Volunteers turn Veterans Day into time for healing

Nov. 11, 2012

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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Army veteran and wounded warrior Christina Cortez, center, experiences a ride in an outrigger canoe at Dana Point Harbor Sunday as part of a day sponsored for veterans and their families by the Dana Outrigger Canoe Club. MICHAEL GOULDING, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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A veteran of the war in Iraq and a wounded warrior, Michael Japak and his dog, Cassie, learn to stand-up paddle in the Dana Point Harbor Sunday as part of a day for veterans and their families sponsored by the Dana Outrigger Canoe Club. MICHAEL GOULDING, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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A wounded warrior, Robert Westfall clowns for the camera while he stand-up paddles in the Dana Point Harbor Sunday as part of a day sponsored for veterans and their families by the Dana Outrigger Canoe Club. MICHAEL GOULDING, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Cassie looks eager to disembark a board as her owner, Iraqi war veteran and wounded warrior Michael Japak, heads back to the beach at the Dana Point Harbor Sunday as part of a day for veterans and their families sponsored by the Dana Outrigger Canoe Club. MICHAEL GOULDING, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Bren Denney with CCI, Canine Companion for Independence, snuggles with one of his dogs at the Dana Point Harbor Sunday as part of a day for veterans and their families sponsored by the Dana Outrigger Canoe Club. MICHAEL GOULDING, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Volunteer Jenn Humboldt leads Iraqi war veteran and wounded warrior Mike Japak and his dog, Cassie, out to the water for a standup paddle session Sunday in Dana Point Harbor. MICHAEL GOULDING, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Iraqi war veteran and a wounded warrior, Michael Japak gets his dog, Cassie, back on shore after stand-up paddle session in the Dana Point Harbor Sunday. The canine shows its appreciation by shaking water on Japak's friends, Samantha Simonds, center, and her daughter Sydney. MICHAEL GOULDING, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Army veteran and wounded warrior Christina Cortez, center, experiences a ride in an outrigger canoe at Dana Point Harbor Sunday as part of a day sponsored for veterans and their families by the Dana Outrigger Canoe Club. MICHAEL GOULDING, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

What does the aloha spirit have to do with Veterans Day?

On Sunday, judging by the wounded warriors wearing leis and paddling outriggers in Dana Point Harbor, the aloha spirit has everything to do with Veterans Day.

Sure, the event put on by the Dana Outrigger Canoe Club is far different from the laying of a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery or the tribute at Col. Bill Barber Memorial Park in Irvine.

Still, "aloha" – a greeting of affection – embodies the spirit of the day when we come together to thank everyone who's served in the armed forces.

You see Veterans Day in the eyes of Army Spc. Michael Japak when he tries out a paddleboard for the first time with his dog, Cassie.

You hear Veterans Day when Christina Cortez, former Army specialist, explains that she doesn't think of her service but that of her grandfather, who fought in the Pacific during World War II.

You feel Veterans Day when Sgt. Samantha Simonds quietly thanks her 20-year-old daughter, Sydney, for taking care of her sisters when Mom was in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Perhaps best of all, you become part of Veterans Day when you climb in an outrigger, paddle like crazy and skim over the sparkling sea with several wounded warriors.

Greg Crouse, a canoe-club member who lost a leg because of a drunken driver while serving in Germany, explains what this community gathering means to him:

"I reinvented myself through outrigger paddling. The ocean's a great healer."

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If people tell you that they don't have enough time to honor Veterans Day, consider that this celebration was born less than a month ago.

As the sun starts to warm a cold beach, 14 outriggers wait on the sand. Most are decorated with tropical flowers.

About half of the 300-member club wears lime-green T-shirts, emblazoned with "Wounded Warriors Project" and is busy greeting and assisting the wounded warriors and their families.

I shake my head in wonder and ask Canoe Club volunteer and chief organizer Suzie Graf why she agreed to lead the effort, especially with so little time.

Graf starts to explain, but her voices catches. She pauses to collect herself. She's a skilled organizer. But there's more to this day. Much more.

She practically grew up on the former El Toro Marine base. Her father, a Marine gunnery sergeant, served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Her brother served in the Marines. She likely would have enlisted if Dad hadn't asked her not to.

As Graff talks, a band plays Hawaiian music. Expecting something more akin to the "Marines' Hymn," I turn to the club's children's coach John Yamasaki with a perplexed look.

"That's the outrigger way," the Laguna Niguel resident explains. "It's a willingness to help out."

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Cortez watches from a grassy knoll with her four girls, ages 6-11. She served in Kuwait for a year, and her tour of duty started just months after the World Trade Center was attacked.

She has the courage to tell me she struggles with post-traumatic stress syndrome. She also declares that if she could have a "do over," she'd enlist again. "I'm proud of what I did.

"If not for the generations of veterans before us, we wouldn't be here," Cortez says.

Soon, Cortez and children cross the beach and head for a giant open-cockpit canoe. Wooden arms that usually connect an outrigger to a canoe connect two hulls. The setup allows for more stability – and more people.

It's been years since I paddled an outrigger, but I head for the water.

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Japak, active duty and up from San Diego, studies the club's various crafts. Along with open-cockpit canoes, there are six-person and two-person outriggers as well as paddleboards.

When asked what makes him a wounded warrior, Japak shrugs. He considers his injuries, PTSD and infected bone around a kneecap, hardly worth mentioning.

I ask how his patella became infected. Japak explains that he served 15 months in Iraq, from 2007 to 2009. He was a forward observer and tank gunner.

With less drama than many of us would have when talking about a scraped knee, Japak says he survived an improvised explosive devise. He's glances away. He knows buddies who didn't survive.

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Simonds, a gunner and communications expert, walks toward a canoe with her daughter.

The sergeant enlisted in 2005 and served in Iraq and Afghanistan. She tells me she suffers from PTSD and traumatic brain injury, the result of an accident.

Why put herself in harm's way?

Her answer goes back generations.

Simonds' grandfather and grandmother served as Marines during World War II. Her father served in Vietnam, was wounded and received a Purple Heart.

"There are people who have given everything for our country."

To be sure, her words echo Cortez. Yet it's a theme worth repeating.

As we stand in a place of serene beauty, paddlers making their way across the water, Simonds' thoughts drift back to a world of danger, blood and death.

She turns toward her daughter and wraps her arms around Sydney.

Daughter squirms in Mom's embrace. Daughter says, "Don't get all emotional on me."

Mom ignores the young woman. "You're the biggest support in my life."

We linger for a few seconds, frozen in time, each deep in our own thoughts.

Sydney shakes off the moment. We head for the big outrigger.

Within minutes, we glide over liquid, civilians and veterans paddling in harmony.

Mahalo, thank you.

David Whiting's column appears four days a week; dwhiting@ocregister.com.

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